Melbourne Financial Planners

This sounds like your financial planner has not managed your expectations properly and/ or hasn’t correctly profiled your appetite to risk. You’ve probably heard that current and historical performance does not guarantee future performance. We are not fully aware of your circumstances, however this sounds like you may need to have your situation reviewed and see if it was the financial planner or simply unreasonable expectation of performance. Remember financial planners are not magicians and no one particular person could predict what is going to happen in the financial markets. The kind of financial planners who make unreasonable statements and promises they can’t keep (for example: I can predict what is going to happen with your managed fund in the future) should be avoided like the plague. We don’t, nor would we ever want to support a financial planner who makes ludicrous claims. You can relax and be assured, when you fill in our two minute form, our financial advisors have been fully vetted.

Most people don’t like the weather in Melbourne. Its cold one day and hot the next, rainy in the afternoon and windy one minute later. If this is how you feel about your financial advisor its time to fill in the two minute form and get access to a more suited financial planner. What’s scary is we hear this all too often. While I am sure, this is not intentional, your financial planner service level may be inconsistent for the following reasons:

• Financial planners are often  taught to rank their clients like “A,B,C or D” as an example. The problem is, he or she hasn’t set up the right expectation and clarified what service they will be giving you.
• They are disorganised and may not be the financial planner for you. They may suit someone else who has a similar personality.
• He or she are too busy. This may relate to the above but may also be a positive for you. It might mean they are good at their job. But once again, she hasn’t communicated this to you and if this is a concern, we suggest filling in our two minute form.
• His or her practice has changed and evolved. You may have needed basic or, at the other end of the spectrum, complicated advice and his or her evolution does not  suit your future needs.

The bottom line here is if you’re are unhappy, you have nothing to lose. This is a free service and after filling in the form (remember it takes two minutes) you’ll be on your way to accessing a more suitable person.

If your financial planner is behaving like a “fly by nighter” and it appears he is neglecting you, this a concern. There is no guarantee your financial planner’s original product/ service recommendations are still current, relevant, let alone suitable. Your situation could have changed for the better or worse and if your financial planner isn’t in regular contact, he is unable to make sure you are achieving your goals and are on track. Financial planners usually get paid a fee/ commission upfront or ongoing. This fee is supposed to cover regular reviews and we would suggest if you are being neglected, run don’t walk and fill in the two minute form.

This is a great idea and we applaud you for doing your research. It’s your financial future we are talking about. If you had a heart condition, you would get a second opinion. If you want to make sure you are getting the right advice, let us know on the two minute form. You’ll be glad you did.

Firstly if you’re financial planner is charging you the earth for their services and you’re not getting any financial or time benefit, then it is time to fill in our two minute form.

Financial advisers who are in regular contact with you can see if employment is a challenge for you or if your finances may need tightening up or further scrutiny. Finally, any associated investment you would make to use a financial planner can be taken indirectly, usually through super. A financial planner should be giving back not taking. There may be something you want reviewed about your financial situation and we would suggest one of our hundred of financial planners, review it. Fill in the form and get the peace of mind.

Some financial planning firms are product focused and can only offer you one brand of product. We would also suggest you avoid a financial advisor who seems to offer the same product to all the clients. Clients are not the same and if your financial planner can offer only a few products or one product per strategy, they may not be looking out for your best interests.

The financial advisor you choose will be local. We will also match up your industry and personal circumstances to the best financial planner for your life stage. For example, there are some financial advisors who specialise in retirement planning and would best suit you if you were looking to head toward retirement.

As stated on the home page, before we refer any financial planner to you, we vet them. We get references from their last 3 clients. We will not refer a financial adviser to you who has received poor feedback from any clients. In this way you can trust the financial adviser we refer to you.

Trust comes in many forms and is a word thrown around like a ball in the industry. There are different types and levels of trust and we mean the following:

• • You can trust your financial planner to drive you forward to your financial destiny. If you get off track they can make sure you stay goal focused.
  • You can rely on them to know what they are doing and expertly address any concerns.
  • You can trust them to make recommendations in your best interest and not because they must sell you a certain type of product or service.
  • You can trust your financial adviser to call you back and follow up with you in a timely manner, if you requested them to do so.

If you had a team soley made up of new recruits, like the AFL example earlier, it wouldn’t be a successful team. Just like an AFL team, the recommendation by financial experts is, you need a team of people to help you set up your financial future. They suggest an accountant, financial planner, mortgage broker, banker, business coach and bookkeeper (if you own a business.) It is important to make sure the team of specialists including your financial advisor are ahead of his or her field. We check to ensure they have done more than the minimum Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for their industry. Some financial planners want to stand out as leader in their industry and we want to refer them to you.

All financial planners we refer to you are part of an industry body like the FPA and as such are required to behave in a certain way and have a minimum standard.

The good news is we can see if a financial planner has been suspended from their association and this will avoid heartache for you.

As stated above sometimes there may be an investment to use a financial planner. There are different pricing structures to suit your needs. Some financial planners get paid by product providers, some encourage a fee for service either upfront or ongoing (this seems to be a trend), some use a time basis to charge and there are some who have a hybrid arrangement.

In the comments section of the two minute form let us know what kind of financial planner you would like to access and we can match you accordingly.

Before making the decision to engage a financial planer to develop a strategy for you, the best idea is to meet them first. This is because in most instances the inital consultation is at their expense and gives you peace of mind before you invest anything. A good financial adviser is a problem solver and can make sure if you don’t have a lot of money to invest, they develop a solution that works for you.

We liken this to finding an ideal employee and lets face it if you’re trying to find the most ideal financial adviser in Melbourne this can be like a job interview. We look deeper at your financial planner than just their testimonials on their website or through reference checks. However, do you have the time to meet with multiple financial planners face to face or investigate financial planning websites? For most people the answer is no.

We go deeper than a reference check and make sure they are competent and credible. Among other things we:

• • • Interview them for you.
    • Review their credentials and understand what to look for.
    • Check them out through their association.
    • Look deeply into their ABN/ ACN and see if they have any complaints against them.
    • If they are a new connection, get feedback from their last three to five clients.